A warrior at fourteen, a general at eighteen, and a king at the age of twenty. The short life of Alexander the Great was filled with success and accomplishment. Alexander was born to King Phillip II of Macedon and Queen Olympia on July 20, 356 B.C. He was well educated by some of the greatest minds of the time including Aristotle. They taught him math, drama, poetry, science, politics, and horsemanship so he was very well rounded in education as any prince would be. One thing that stood out to Alexander during his education was Homer’s Iliad. After reading it he wanted nothing more than to become a heroic warrior himself. He would get his chance to be that hero as his father was invading Thrace a Thracian tribe rebelled and attacked. Alexander …show more content…
After the death of his father Alexander was determined to take on the throne. The Macedonian army stood beside him and together they proceeded in weeding out (killing) potential heirs to the throne. His mother even proceeded in murdering Cleopatra and Phillips daughter to be sure her son would take the throne. This of course helped drive Cleopatra to her suicide at the death of her child. Once that blood bath was over and Alexander was given kingship many placed that were supposedly under his rule were still celebrating the death of King Phillip II. Alexander would have to march upon these rebelling societies and establish his authority in order to regain them under his rule. He did just this. The speed of his army surprised many and he was able to take them quickly. He began his widespread conquest this way arriving is states so quickly that most never had time to gather up allies to help defend them. He conquered Greece and marched on to Egypt, Persia and India. It was remarkable and they were very successful. By the time he was thirty-two years old Alexander had conquered most of the known world at that time including Egypt, Greece, and parts of Asia. He was planning his march on Arabia when he caught a terrible …show more content…
His focus and commitment to his people and plans won him the largest empire of his time. He challenged the status quo by taking on the unbeaten and becoming the undefeated. He built a super army and transformed his kingdom into a feared military power. Even as a child of fourteen he established that he could lead an army and by twenty he proved he could take back his kingdom as king. He did this while also expanding it and trying to bring it to its full potential. Alexander the Great was very innovative and did what it took to get where he wanted. While doing this he had some failures and risks. For example while crossing a desert many of his men and horses died but he kept going with the rest of his men in tow. He took incredible risks because he went up against other military powers that he couldn’t have known he’d be victorious over and when the ancient Persian Empire fell gained a lot of confidence along with a plush court lifestyle. The risks of a military leader involve the loss of men and possibly victory. You take a risk anytime you are involved in a war with people being killed and the fact that you don’t know if you’ll be victorious or not. To lose a vast amount of life and not win the war is terrible risk but people do it anyway, even